Nashville Jury Finds Driver 75% at Fault in Crosswalk Death of Credit Union Lending Executive
After trial: The $1,638,561 verdict was reduced to a $1,228,921 judgment for the 25 percent of fault the jury assigned to Gentry. We could not confirm whether the judgment was paid or whether any appeal was filed, and found no record of one.
Won by Ramsey & Thornton, Dickson and Rocky McElhaney Law Firm.
Eddie Gentry, 54, a vice president of lending at Educators Credit Union, was struck in a Nashville crosswalk on November 20, 2001 and died eight days later. A Davidson County jury found driver Dereck Cook 75 percent at fault and set damages at $1,638,561. The court directed a verdict for Metro on the failed 'Don't Walk' bulb claim. Judgment after Gentry's 25 percent share of fault was $1,228,921.
What happened
On November 20, 2001, Eddie Gentry, a 54-year-old vice president of lending at Educators Credit Union, was crossing the street at 21st Avenue South and Wedgewood Avenue in Nashville. The estate noted that he was fully inside the crosswalk when a car driven by Dereck Cook struck him. Gentry suffered significant trauma and died eight days later, leaving his wife a widow.
His estate and his widow sued Cook, alleging that he failed to keep a proper lookout. They also sued the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County on a second theory: the bulb in the 'Don't Walk' signal at the intersection had burned out, and without that failure Gentry would not have stepped into the street against the light.
Cook's defense pointed to two things: that Gentry had crossed against the signal, and that the signal itself had failed. Metro argued it had no notice, actual or constructive, that the bulb was out. The plaintiffs countered that the bulbs at city intersections failed on a regular basis, which they said amounted to constructive notice.
The case went to trial in Davidson County Circuit Court before Judge Thomas Brothers, with a verdict on November 7, 2005. Larry R. McElhaney II, then of Arena & McElhaney, tried it for the estate together with R. Eric Thornton of Ramsey & Thornton in Dickson. Michael H. Sneed defended Cook, and Philip D. Baltz of the Metro Department of Law defended the city. The judge directed a verdict for Metro, finding the city had no notice that the bulb was out, so the jury decided only the claim against Cook.
The jury found Cook 75 percent at fault and assigned the remaining 25 percent to Gentry. It set the estate's damages at $1,638,561. That figure included $100,000 for Gentry's suffering and $1,169,023 for his lost earning capacity, and the jury separately valued his widow's loss of consortium. Because Tennessee reduces a recovery by the plaintiff's share of fault, the court entered judgment for $1,228,921.
The verdict is reported in the Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter's January 2006 issue under Gentry v. Cook, No. 02-3326. We found no record of an appeal.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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